


canary

by lowkeyamen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Hurt and comfort, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, breaking up, broken relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-20 21:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18132548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowkeyamen/pseuds/lowkeyamen
Summary: Ten and Sicheng feel like caged birds, so they decide to do something about it.





	canary

**Author's Note:**

> I was rly sad when I started writing this is apologies for the emo!! And also sorry kun ily xo  
> If ur interested in contributing to #neoprompts pls check out our twitter https://twitter.com/neoprompts for next weeks prompt!!
> 
> Ps sorry for any typos I had to try and edit this on my phone and it was a nightmare!!

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ten sat down at their coffee table, opposite his boyfriend. Sicheng had barely moved in the past half hour and they were seriously running out of time. 

No response. He tried signing the question instead, knowing that Sicheng often proffered non-verbal methods of communication when he was overwhelmed. 

Sicheng simply nodded in response, determination flashed through his eyes behind the spaced out look on his face. He wanted to do this. He had to do this. 

"Okay, well... I'm going to go up and finish packing, let me know if you need any help with the rest of your stuff because we need to be out of here no later than four. 

Sicheng's eyes flickered up to the clock as Ten ran back up to his room. Two hours. Two hours until his life was going to change forever. Until it would just be he and Ten. The two of them against the world. 

He smiled fondly at the thought. It was going to be hard to start with, but anything had to be better than this. 

He forced himself up, knowing he still had a few drawers to empty. Ten had helped him with the majority of his stuff this morning, before he had a breakdown after the gravity of what they were doing hit. 

They were leaving. 

They were leaving  _him_. They were leaving Kun.

Sicheng's heart sunk as he walked past the music room at the top of the stairs. The very room where he had fallen in love to the backdrop of Kun’s fingers gliding across the keys of the old beat up piano he refused to get rid of despite the fact they could afford a much nicer one now. 

Sicheng bit down on his bottom lip as he sat down, lifting the fall board to reveal ivory. His fingers ghosted over the keys, which felt weird without Kun’s on top of them, guiding him to play. This seat felt weird without the elder's lap underneath him. 

He didn't like it. 

Maybe this was a mistake. 

Five years. Five years they'd been together. 

They had met when Sicheng was in his last year of university through mutual friends they had both since drifted away from, and Sicheng had been absolutely enamoured with him. 

Kun was warm, he reminded Sicheng of late May when it wasn't uncomfortably hot but you didn't have to wear a jacket out. When you could lie out on the grass, soaking up the suns rays without having to worry about getting burnt. When the breeze would carry the smell of hyacinth through the air and the bird would sing til late at night because it didn't get dark at a ridiculous time. That was Sicheng’s favourite time of year. And Kun was his favourite person. 

Was. 

He wasn't sure when that had all changed, but...Kun didn't remind him of late spring anymore, he reminded him of November, when all it would do was rain and the air was bitter and all of the trees lost their leaves. When everything was dark and miserable and bare. 

Sicheng's breath shuddered as he shut the fall board, feeling an awful lot like he was closing a chapter of his life. One he never thought he'd want to turn the page on. 

He glanced around the room, smiling fondly to himself as his eyes settled on an acoustic guitar in the corner. Kun’s favourite. The only one he'd use when he used to play in cafes, bars, anywhere that would have him. Back when Sicheng was his number one fan and would always be sat in the very front with stars in his eyes, spending god knows how much on coffee just to watch his boyfriend do what he loved. Just to hear him sing. And it always felt like those love songs he'd play in front of a crowded room were especially for Sicheng. That even when Kun began to play his own little solo shows where people would pay especially to see him, they were the only two in the room and Kun was singing those words especially for him. Because he loved Sicheng more than anything else. 

But now the words felt hollow, like they didn't mean anything. Kun wasn't singing them for Sicheng, nor was he singing them for Ten. He was singing them because he had to. Kun had fallen in love with his job and out of love with his boyfriends and neither of them could do it anymore. They couldn't be second best. Not when Kun was supposed to be looking after them. Not when he promised he'd always be there for him. 

"Babe?" Sicheng looked across to the doorway to find Ten leaned up against it. "We really need to get a move on."

Sicheng nodded softly, feigning a smile. At least he had Ten. At least he had someone who still loved him. 

Sicheng wasn't quite sure what to think when Kun first brought up the idea of a second boyfriend. It was something that had talked about in the past, the idea of having someone else to love. 

Kun had always had a big heart, and he knew he could devote himself to more than one boy. He knew he could make two people happy without anyone feeling left out. Sicheng was a little worried that Kun was merely replacing him with someone better, but the second he met Ten all of those fears fizzled away, because Ten had the brightest smile he'd ever seen, and despite being January he could feel the warmth of May sweep over him when the elder held his hand. 

Ten was different to Sicheng in so many ways. He was confident and snarky and had absolutely no qualms about his sexuality. He had taught Sicheng so many things since they first met, not just in the bedroom, but he had helped Sicheng come out of his shell, pushed him to leave the job he hated because he knew he was better than that. He made Sicheng feel good about himself, and in that moment, Sicheng couldn't have been happier. He had not one, but two boys that loved him more than anything in the world. That made him smile wider than he ever had before. That would bundle him up in their arms and scatter kisses across his face until the three of them passed out in tangle of limbs. 

But now he couldn't remember the last time that happened. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up with Kun snoring softly into the nape of his neck or when he'd sit up in the morning to find Ten snuggled into Kun’s chest. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up with the two of them, and even with Ten’s arms wrapped around him their bed felt so empty now. 

He missed being sandwiched between the two of them. And now he was never going to feel that warm again. 

"Sicheng, it's not too late to change your mind."

"I-I-" Sicheng stuttered, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt. "I need to- We need to-"

"Hey, shhh." Ten rushed over to Sicheng, settling down in the youngers lap. He had been crying far too much lately for Ten’s liking. It was breaking his heart seeing him like this. 

Ten absolutely adored Sicheng. The way he opened up and allowed him into his life, into their life. The way his nose would nuzzle against Ten’s before going in for a kiss, silently asking for permission. That toothy little grin of his that he usually only kept reserved for his boyfriends. And all he wanted was for that smile to come back. For him to be happy. 

He could see how this was destroying Sicheng, how it was slowly eating away at him, forcing him back into his shell because without Kun he felt like he was nothing. Ten couldn't bear the thought of that. Sicheng was his own person, and Ten thought he was truly amazing. 

"It's gonna be okay." Ten whispered into Sicheng's hair, rocking the boy back and forth as long arms snaked around his waist. He...He wasn't sure it was going to be okay, but what else could he say? 

This was hard for him too, he was just trying not to show it for Sicheng's sake. He couldn't believe it had come to this, that they were actually about to leave kun. Leave their home. They didn't even really have a clear idea of what they were going to do, where they were going to live, but...they had to get out. This wasn't a healthy relationship anymore. 

Ten wasn't sure how it happened. How Kun went from the sweet singer-song writer he fell for while working behind the bar of some underground nightclub to a man he barely even recognised. How the nights of making love before cuddling until the three of them fell asleep turned into him waiting up until some ungodly hour just praying he'd hear Kun stumble through the door. Praying he hadn't been murdered or passed out somewhere. How the giggles and whispered sweet nothings turned to stone cold silence on the rare occasions Kun was there during the day. How the words 'I love you' which were once so common had become alien in the elder's voice. 

Nothing was the same anymore, and neither he or Sicheng could cope with being in this relationship anymore. Kun didn't love them like he used to. He didn't spend time with them, didn't look after them or cherish them like he promised he would. He would much rather stay out for days on end doing god knows what with people Ten and Sicheng had never even met than curl up and watch a movie with his boyfriends. 

Ten wondered if maybe it was them. Maybe they were just boring. When he was younger Ten had always been the life and soul of the party. The first one to order a round of shots. The first one to get up an dance on the table. The first one to make out with any guy that looked at him twice just because he could. But he was older now, he'd grown up. He would take a home cooked meal and binge watching crime dramas all snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and Sicheng over going out and getting off his face any day. He'd take walking hand in hand through the park and listening to the birds sing over waking up with a hangover. He...He'd take Sicheng over Kun...

Kun may have been the one he fell for first, may have been the one who brought him into this relationship, but he wasn't even sure that man was Kun anymore. He definitely wasn't the Kun he fell in love with. 

But Sicheng never changed. He was a constant in Ten’s life. Sweet little Sicheng, with his gangly limbs and baritone voice which totally contradicted his personality. Sicheng who was so shy and unsure of himself when they first met, but had bloomed and grown into this person that truly loved himself. And Ten’s love for him only grew as time went on, while his feelings for Kun seemed to diminish. 

"We're gonna be okay." Ten sniffled, burring his face in dark hair. It had only been a couple of days since Sicheng had dyed it, finally giving up on his beloved platinum blonde after realising how damaging it was. Ten loved it, he thought the darker colour made Sicheng look more mature, but Kun didn't take much of a liking to their boyfriends new style and didn't hesitate to mention it the last time they had dinner together. Ten was almost glad that Kun was never home to eat with them. He always ended up putting one of them down in one way or another. 

Ten wished it wasn't like this. He wished things hadn't changed. He couldn't believe how happy he was when Kun and Sicheng came into his life. To not have one but two boyfriends that showered him with love and affection. Who could ask for anything more? 

But things were so different now. They weren't...right. He felt like he was constantly walking on eggshells whenever Kun was around, scared of saying the wrong thing in case the elder took it the wrong way. He had been so irritable lately, and Ten knew exactly why. He knew Kun’s new group of friends were plying him with all sorts of illegal substances. That when Kun finally did come home it wasn't out of his system. That he took his comedowns out on the people he was meant to love. 

And Ten couldn't do it anymore. He wasn't going to be a victim. He wasn't going to stay in a loveless relationship in the hope that things would go back to how they used to be, because he very highly doubted they ever would. Kun wasn't going to change. He wasn't going to go back to that soft spoken but cheeky musician he fell in love with. He was someone else entirely now. Someone Ten didn't recognise at all. 

Which is why he had to get out. 

But he couldn't leave Sicheng behind. 

He knew the younger was absolutely devoted to Kun. That he would do absolutely anything for the man he'd been with for five years, but Ten could see it was starting to take a toll on him. That he took Kun’s cruel words on board. That he yearned to be held by the both of them at night, not just Ten. That there was no way he would even think of leaving this toxic, loveless relationship if it wasn't for Ten. 

So for that, Ten was thankful. He was thankful that Kun invited him to into their relationship because it meant Sicheng wasn't going through this alone. He wasn't going to come out of this single. He was still going to have someone that loved him, that wanted to spend every waking minute with him. That would always be there for him. And Ten meant that. He truly did. 

"Come on." Ten stood, urging Sicheng to follow him. They were seriously running out of time. "Xuxi is waiting for us."

Sicheng took his boyfriends hand, standing to leave the room. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was really leaving. He was leaving five years of his life behind. He was leaving the man he loved. He was leaving his home. All of these memories. 

He looked around the room once more. This had always been his favourite place. He couldn't really play any of the instruments Kun had collected of the years, the ones that lined the walls, some only for show. But he loved curling up in the armchair in the corner with a book listening to his boyfriend play the clarinet or the cello or whatever tickled his fancy that evening. Kun was so talented, a real star in Sicheng's eyes. But all stars burned out in the end. 

He reached out to pick one of the instruments off the wall. He had always wanted to learn how to play something as well as Kun could, but he just never got around to it. Music just wasn't his forte. 

"Apparently you can use this thing to train songbirds." Sicheng commented offhandedly. It was the first full sentence he'd spoken in hours. "He took me to Italy one year, for my birthday and we found this little shop that made hand carved instruments and the guy that owned it was playing one of these. He had these little birds in a cage and they were signing along with him."

Sicheng rubbed his thumb across the holes in the tiny wooden flute. There were only a few so Sicheng honestly had no idea how that man managed to play such a pretty little tune, but he and Kun had been absolutely entranced. It was October then, but Sicheng defintely got that warm May feeling from the birds tweeting along to the zuffolo. Zuffolo! That's what it was called. 

"Kun had this idea," Sicheng laughed under his breath as he thought back to how his boyfriends eyes sparkled that night, "we were gonna get a canary and he was going to train it to sing along with him. He wanted a bunch of them and he was going to teach them to sing for me. How dumb is that?"

Ten smiled sadly as Sicheng scoffed, noticing the fondness that hid behind the tears in Sicheng's eyes. Maybe this wasn't right. Maybe he was forcing Sicheng to leave Kun when he didn't actually want to. 

"Sicheng, baby? I need to know if this is what you really want. I know we've talked about this a lot, but I don't want to make you do something you aren't ready for." Ten knew things had to change either way, that if they stayed, they had to make Kun see what he was doing to them. But maybe this was too big of a change for Sicheng. 

"No, we need to leave. He's had his chance- he's had plenty of chances." It wasn't like they were up and leaving out of nowhere. It wasn't like they were doing something so drastic without even talking to their boyfriend first. They had told Kun how they felt like he was barely even a part of their lives anymore. They had told him how they wished things could go back to how they used to be, back when all three of them were happy. But Kun was choosing his rockstar life of drunk, drugs and partying over them. They had given him plenty of opportunities to calm down and come back to them, but he had chose to waste them. It was okay for a couple of days, he had made an effort to spend time with them, to at least pretend the still loved them both, but that soon fizzled out. Kun just wasn't the man that they fell for anymore, and it wasn't fair on them to keep living this life. To stay here in the hope that one day he'd come back to them. "It's for the best."

Sicheng almost hoped this would be a massive wake up call for Kun. That he'd realise just what he'd lost in the two of them leaving. That it would give him the kick in the teeth he needed to change his ways. But...he doubted it. He was pretty sure it would just be him and Ten from now on, and while that would take some getting used to, and he would probably always mourn the love he'd lost, at least he had someone. At least he had Ten. 

"Let's get going."

The two of them packed the last of their belongings, made sure they had absolutely everything they needed because there was no way they could come back here. This was it. This was the end. 

Ten hated how empty it felt as he wandered through the upstairs of their little house. Though, it had felt kind of bare for a while, the lack of Kun’s presence leaving a gaping hole in their home life, but now it even looked bare. The empty wardrobes and drawers. The dressing table free of clutter now he'd packed his menagerie of skincare products away. He didn't like it at all. 

But at the same time, it felt kind of refreshing. Like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Like he could finally breathe again. The practically empty rooms felt like a fresh start, even if it wasn't going to be here. He and Sicheng would find a place of their own in time. An empty apartment they would make into a home filled with love and laughter and happiness. Just like this one had at one point. But this time things wouldn't fall apart. He'd make sure of that. He would never treat Sicheng the way Kun had treated the both of them. He was going to make sure that toothy smile would never slip off of his boyfriends face. 

"Ready?"

Ten nodded softly as he descended down the stairs, tears stinging at the back of his eyes. Everything was loaded up in the car bar the backpack slung over Sicheng's shoulder. Their entire lives were in the boot or piled up on the back seat. He had always figured they'd move out of here one day, find a bigger place they could make their own. But he had never imagined it would have just been the two of them. Honestly, it broke his heart. 

He sniffled, holding back the tears. Trying his hardest to be the strong one. He had come so far in all of this he couldn't break down now, not when he had to drive them across the city to Xuxi's place. The younger had offered up his spare room until the two of them got things sorted and Ten couldn't have been more grateful. He wasn't sure they'd be able to leave if it wasn't for him. How long could they afford to stay in a hotel for? 

"Yeah, lets go."

Ten took a deep breath as he settled down in the drivers seat, keys hovering only millimetres from the ignition. This was it. They were really doing this. Once he started driving there was no turning back because Kun was due to be home soon and he was going to see that all of their stuff was gone and they couldn't just turn around and-

"Ten." Sicheng placed a calming hand over his boyfriends, guiding the key in. "We can do this."

"What if we can't? What if we need him? What if we can't survive on our own for some fucked up reason?" Ten hadn't been in the best place when he met the couple. He hadn't long lost his previous boyfriend in a car accident, and Kun was the one who taught him how to smile again. He never thought he'd find love like that twice over, never mind a third time when he ended up falling for Sicheng too. Kun was the one who brought him back from the brink during one of the darkest times of his life. What if he couldn't cope without him? 

"You have me, you're not gonna be on your own."

"I know, but- I'm scared."

"Me too." Sicheng's fingers tightened around Ten’s hand. This was such a massive step for the two of them, of course they were scared. Neither of them had been without Kun for so long. "But we're gonna work it out. Together. We need to go, Ten."

Ten nodded. He knew that. He really did. He had been trying so hard to be the strong one for Sicheng's sake, knowing how much this was affecting the younger, but now he was the one freaking out. But they didn't have time for that. 

He took a deep breath, turning the key in the ignition, heart pounding as the engine started up. This was really it. They were leaving. They'd never come back here. 

Sicheng smiled to himself as they finally took off. As they made their way off of the drive, down the street, around the corner- That's it. They were gone. They'd done it. They'd actually done it. 

"Oh my god." Sicheng breathed a sigh of relief as they turned into the motorway. He couldn't believe they had actually done this, that they had the courage to leave everything behind. But it felt right. It felt so right. "We're- We've left! We did it."

This was crazy. Totally crazy. 

"Yeah, we-" Ten took a shaky breath. Now it was happening he...wasn't so sure. This was really scary. "We're homeless. We don't have anywhere to live. We have nothing, we don't-"

"Pull over." Sicheng could tell Ten was beginning to panic and he didn't exactly want to crash. "Turn down here."

Ten did was he was told, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down, before his vision became completely skewed by tears. He had been the one that instigated this whole thing, that convinced Sicheng that he could do better. That they both could. But now look at him. He was a mess. He wasn't sure he could do this, after all. 

"Come on, get out."

Ten followed Sicheng, perching himself on the bonnet of his car. He didn't really know where they were right now, he'd turned off the motorway and down some little side road next to a bunch of trees. It was pretty, though. Way better than his cramped little car which had him feeling extra claustrophobic with their entire lives packed into it. 

"I'm sorry, I'm meant to be helping you through this and I-" Ten sighed as Sicheng's fingers laced with his own. "I'm just freaking out a bit, you know?"

"We're helping each other Ten. We're in this together, yeah?" Sicheng absolutely hated seeing Ten like this. It was so rare that he cried, but the past few months it was something he had seen far too often. "I know it's gonna be weird at first but it's for the best. We can finally be happy. Just the two of us."

Ten nodded, smiling through the tears. Sicheng was right. It didn't matter if they didn't have Kun, they could do this without him. They were strong, and they were even stronger together. They'd help each other get through this. No more drunken outbursts. No more being stood up because your boyfriend decided something else sounded like a better offer. No more being ghosted for days on end. Ten finally felt like he mattered, because no one loved him more than Sicheng did. 

He took a deep breath, admiring the scenery around him, the massive field they'd parked in front of a metaphore for how he felt. Free. Like he could run around screaming from the top of his lungs if he wanted to because no one was going to stop him. No one was going to hold him back anymore. They were like those birds flying overhead, ducking and diving in the air as they played around together. Just the two of them doing whatever they wanted because they weren't caged. Not anymore. 

"Do you think that works?" Ten questioned, nodding towards the zuffolo Sicheng still had in his hand. He was trying his hardest to let go, but he still needed a little memory to hold onto. 

"Probably not." Sicheng handed it over to his boyfriend. Ten had always been more musically inclined than he was. "Don't think he ever even tried."

Ten held the instrument to his lips before blowing. He winced a little at how high pitched the noise was, despite the fact he should have seen it coming considering how tiny the flute was. He tried again, covering the small holes in a random order in an attempt to make a little tune. 

Sicheng giggled to himself as he watched Ten play, clearly having no idea what he was doing. It was cute though. It may not sound great, but it was cute. 

But then he heard something from a nearby tree. 

"Wait." He held his hand up to stop Ten as he tried to listen. That was defintely...tweeting. "Oh my god."

Ten tried again, playing another little tune. Surely it was just a coincidence, right? 

But then it happened again. And again. 

"They're singing back! That's so cool."

Ten smiled as Sicheng's eyes sparkled, as he grinned wider than Ten had seen in a long time. He looked so relaxed compared to how he had her the past few months. Like he could finally breathe, finally allow himself to be happy without having to worry about anyone else. 

"I love you so much."

Sicheng fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt as his cheeks heated up. Those words falling from Ten’s lips meant so much more to him than the empty ones Kun had been reciting because he felt like he had to. Ten’s were so sincere. Sicheng knew he actually meant them. 

He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to the elder's lips. 

They were going to be fine. He just knew it. 

"I love you too."


End file.
